My Story
was born in a small town in Sweden called Lidköping. Although no one in my family was remotely interested in horses, for some reason I had the obsession since day 1. In 2002, when I was 7, my parents decided to take me, my brother and sister, and jump on a yacht and sail the world for 3 years. We stopped in many different countries and islands with exotic landscapes and animals, but I remember that the only important question of the day was “where are the horses?” I managed to find some along the way! In 2005 we arrived in Australia and decided to settle down and buy a house. I eventually convinced my parents to let me take riding lessons and a couple of years later I got my very first pony, Twinkles.
I was so excited to have a horse that was mine. I imagined her galloping up to me in the paddock, nuzzling my shoulder and putting her head in the halter, ready to go for a ride. Oh boy, I was so wrong! Twinkles seemed like she hated me! She would run away from me when I approached her, try to bite me and even try to kick me at times. She hated the sight of the saddle and when we went out riding she would spend the entire time trying to turn back home. I was so upset and disappointed. The people around me told me that I just had to show her who was boss. So I started reprimanding her behaviour, and eventually she complied, but deep down it just felt wrong.
I started watching training videos and reading every book I could get my hands on, and went to several clinics and seminars. In 2010, a brilliant trainer – Rebecca Dahlgren from HorseVision in Sweden – introduced me to the world of liberty training. I started playing around with the concepts with my own horses and came to the realization that the best teachers were standing right in front of me! Despite all the books, videos, clinics and seminars, it was the horses that taught me the most profound lessons. I spent hours observing them and trying different ways to work and communicate with them. After thousands of mistakes, it finally started to make sense. The training grew and evolved and started to gain interest from people all over the world.
In 2015-2020, I studied Veterinary Science at the University of Queensland and used the holidays to give lessons and run clinics. I also had the opportunity to learn from fantastic trainers, such as Christofer Dahlgren from HorseVision Sweden and Belinda Bolsenbroek, who have helped me understand the essence of academic/classical dressage. This form of dressage aims to benefit the horse physically and mentally through healthy biomechanics and gymnastic exercises. In other words, the dressage is for the horse rather than the horse for the dressage. I loved this concept and started to integrate it into my liberty training.
After graduating in 2020, I immediately started working as an equine veterinarian. The veterinary study and work has not only helped me understand equine health and medicine, but it has also provided me with a greater insight into behaviour, learning theory and the structure and function of the equine brain. Working as an equine vet has also made me much more aware of how many horses in this world are struggling mentally and/or physically. This has prompted me to take action and help equestrians understand their horse's mind, movement and health, to build stronger connections with their horses and to provide them with the best quality of life!
These days, I have three horses of my own: Calli, Nina and Ty. They all have incredibly different personalities and have all taught me so much in their own way!
